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Showing posts from June, 2012

Analysis of Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa, or The History of a Young Lady

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Exploring the Depths of Samuel Richardson's Clarissa: A Journey into the Life of a Young Lady Unveiling the Complexities of Love, Virtue, and Society: An In-Depth Analysis of Samuel Richardson's Epistolary Masterpiece, Clarissa, or The History of a Young Lady (1748) Samuel Richardson's novel    Clarissa, or The History of a Young Lady  is a landmark work of 18th-century literature that explores themes of love, virtue, and societal expectations. Published in 1748, the novel is an epistolary masterpiece, presented in the form of letters exchanged between the characters, providing an intimate and detailed account of their thoughts and emotions. Samuel Richardson ’s second novel, Clarissa, or The History of a Young Lady , was published in 7 volumes, 1747-1748, eight years after the appearance of Pamela . This was the noble and tragic story of Clarissa . It explores and reexplores the same events from the points of view of several of the characters, is considered his best

Analysis of William Blake’s "The Tyger" and "The Lamb" from "Song of Experience" (1794) and "Song of Innocence" (1789)

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“Blake’s poetry contained an honesty against which  the whole world conspires because it is unpleasant.”  - T. S. Eliot William Blake was a mystic poet and this ‘Mystic movement of his mind required Metaphor, he saw no likeness but identities, so the images and symbols are found galore (plentiful) in his poems. The image of generally viewed as singles in dimension while the symbol as more complex. Legious and Cazamian remark that Blake’s poetry deals in the subtlest (illustrated) of symbolism with the skill that can not be matched. In the Song of Innocence (1789) his symbols are largely drawn from the Bible, but in the Song of Experience (1794) he often uses symbols of his own making, and his meaning is more elusive. 

"The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling" by Henry Fielding: Common Questions for Competitive Examination Part II

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T he History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749) . Tom Jones by Henry Fielding Genre: Comic epic of the picaresque tradition Action:  The adventures and misadventures of a roguish hero, Tom . The main character: Tom Jones Heroine: Sophia Other characters: Captain Waters, Mrs. Waters, Thomas Allworthy, John Blifil, Mr. Fitzpatrick, ‘Black George’ Seagrim, Lady Bellaston, Nancy Miller, Mr. Partridge etc.  What trait of Tom’s Character do you find from the Nancy-Nightingale episode? When Tom learns from Nightingale that his father is making an alternative arrangement for his marriage in spite of the fact that Nancy Miller, his beloved, has attempted suicide, Tom is perturbed and tries to find a solution. He comes to the conclusion that if he presents the fait accomplish of marriage, as having been already Consummated, the father will be compelled to accept the marriage. Therefore, he gives the wrong information, and everything works according to plan. The three traits of Tom r

John Donne's "Canonization" : Ten Most Common Short Questions

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"For God's sake hold your tongue and let me love." John Donne  (1572? - 1631) Songs and Sonnets ,  "The Canonization" 1. What is the meaning of the word ‘canonization’? The word ‘Canonization’ means formal recognition as a saint , an act by which the pope publicly proclaims the sanctity of a deceased person, by the Christian church.  In Donne’s poem the ‘canonization’ for the lovers implies that the lovers are holy as the christen saints and that there love is worthy to be emulated. 

Character of Tony Lumpkin in Oliver Goldsmith's "She Stoops to Conquer": A Comedy of Intrigue

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“Let schoolmasters puzzle their brain, With grammar, and nonsense, and learning, Good liquor, I stoutly maintain, Gives genius a better discerning.”  Tony At The Three Pigeon If Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer is a comedy of intrigue, it is so mainly for Tony Lumpkin , who seemingly a booby, turns out to be a ready-wit, a master of pranks. The play is set in motion with a trick that Tony plays on two town guys, Marlow and Hastings. How is it that he misdirects the two youths which had them to harassment? Tony does it for its own shake .It is his humour to make fun at the cost of others. Had Tony played no trick on Marlow and Hastings, there would have no comedy concerning ‘mistakes of a night.’ Hence the importance of Tony in the play can hardly be underrated.

A TO Z Literary Principles from History of English Literature: Note 23 (Ben Jonson)

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A Set of 26 Objective Questions & Answers  'Drink to me only with thine eyes.” 'To Celia' The Forest (1616) Ben Jonson (1572 - 1637) English playwright and poet. A. Beginning: Every Man in His Humour was performed in 1598 by the Lord Chamberlain's Company with William Shakespeare in the cast.  B. The Duel: Jonson killed a man in a duel and narrowly escaped execution. C. Humour: Invented a kind of topical comedy involving eccentric characters, each of whom represented a temperament, or humor, of humanity. According to him there are four humours which he explains in the introduction to his play, Every Man in His Humour : The humour of blood makes a man excessively optimistic or sanguine even without the slightest chance of hope or success; Phlegm makes one excessively calm and docile; Choler makes one highly ill-tempered; Black bile makes one excessively melancholy and morbid.

Theme of Race-relationship and Colonial Encounter in E. M. Forster's "A Passage to India"

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A Passage to India by E. M. Forster published in 1924   Divisions: Part I—Mosque Part II—Caves Part III—Temple Exploring Race, Colonialism, and Cultural Divide in E.M. Forster's "A Passage to India" A Passage to India: Unveiling the Complexities of Race, Colonialism, and Human Connections  E. M. Forster Every novel deals with relationships-emotional, intellectual and spiritual-and Forster’s A Passage to India is no exception. Yet, it is unique, and its uniqueness lies in the fact that the novel is concerned less with individual relationship than with race-relationship, and that it subsumes the entire gamut of human interests, ranging from the political and the ethnic to the emotional, the intellectual and the spiritual. Sometimes it is also assumed as a clash between two fundamentally different cultures, those of East and West. Although Forster himself declared that ‘the book is not really about politics’ (three countries), leading many critics to opine that the

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749) by Henry Fielding: Short Questions for Competitive Examination

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T he History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749) . Tom Jones by Henry Fielding Genre: Comic epic of the picaresque tradition Action:  The adventures and misadventures of a roguish hero, Tom . The main character: Tom Jones Heroine: Sophia Other characters: Captain Waters, Mrs. Waters, Thomas Allworthy, John Blifil, Mr. Fitzpatrick, ‘Black George’ Seagrim, Lady Bellaston, Nancy Miller, Mr. Partridge etc. Give the identity of Thomas Allworthy. Thomas Allworthy is owner of one of the largest estates is Somersetshire. He is an agreeable, pleasant and benevolent man, ‘who might be deemed, as Fielding observes, the favourite of Nature and Fortune’. He is the elder brother of Bridget and the maternal uncle of the hero, Tom Jones. The only cause of his unhappiness is that his wife and three children have predeceased him.

A TO Z Literary Principles from History of English Literature: Note 22

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 A Set of 26 Objective Questions & Answers    (World English Literature) A. Three Father Figures: Poetry: Chaucer ; Comedy: Aristophanes; Printing: Caxton B. French writer and philosopher, Voltaire’s Real name is François Marie Arouet (1694-1778). C. In 1980  Salman Rushdie published the novel Midnight’s Children which employed magic realism. The book is noted for its insights into issues of personal and national identity in India and Pakistan as postcolonial nations.  D. A Suitable Boy (1993) by Vikram Seth traces the history of a family in a fictional town in post independence India.

William Wordsworth: Nature’s Prophet and Priest

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Sage of Nature: William Wordsworth's Spiritual Connection Wordsworth's Profound Relationship with Nature: Unveiling the Essence of Romantic Poetry William Wordsworth (1770-1850) is regarded as the greatest and one of the most accomplished and influential of England's romantic nature poets in English literature. In fact, he is nature’s prophet and priest. No other English poet has given his heart and soul so deeply to the study and enjoyment of the beauties of nature. He not only sees and describes the beauty of the meadows, the woodlands, the hills, the streams, the sky and the seas, the cataracts etc. accurately but penetrates in-depth of all these things and finds a deep meaning in them. Concerning Wordsworth’s attitude to nature , the following seven points may be noted. Wordsworth's Poetic Vision: Nature's Divine Influence on the Human Soul He conceived nature that there is a divine spirit that pervades all the objects of nature. This belief in divine spir

Eugene O’Neill: One of Greatest Dramatists of America: Contribution and Achievement

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Introduction Eugene Gladstone O'Neill  (1888-1953) is one of greatest dramatists of America, the creator of serious American drama . The bulk of his output is fairly large, sufficiently large to place him securely in the forefront of 20 th century dramatist.  His profound impact on the theatrical landscape and his significant contributions to American drama have solidified his place as a literary icon. O'Neill's life and work are characterized by a deep exploration of human struggles, the complexities of family dynamics, and the pursuit of personal truth. Through his innovative and introspective plays, he revolutionized the American theater and left an enduring legacy.  There are many more which would stand high in any long last of plays of our time: Anna Christie, The Emperor Jones, The Hairy Ape, All God’s Chillum Got Wings, and A Touch of thepoet. He is the first name to be mentioned in any discussion of American theater today, and he is the only one of outplay w

A TO Z Literary Principles from History of English Literature: Note 21

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 A Set of 26 Objective Questions & Answers  (World English Literature) A. Where do you find the story of Kurtz? Comment on her character. Main character of Joseph Conrad's famous novella Heart of Darkness (1902) is Kurtz, who is an English ivory trader living in Africa. Throughout the story, Kurtz's descent into cruelty and violence as a result of greed is shown to be, on an individual scale, what the imperialism of nations can be on a large scale. B. Where do you find the story of Dorothea Brooke? Dorothea Brooke is the heroine of George Eliot’s (was actually a woman named Mary Ann Evans) novel Middlemarch. C. Where do you find the story of Schlegels and the Wilcoxes? How they differ from each other? E. M.  Forster’s Howards End tells the story of two families:  the Schlegels and the Wilcoxes, whose perspectives on life are diametrically opposed. The Schlegels believe in the mind and are idealistic about the world around them, whereas the Wilcoxes are pra

Analysis of William Wordsworth's Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood

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“Heaven lies about us in our infancy”   William Wordsworth   (1770 - 1850) Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood The poet William Wordsworth  (1770 - 1850) believes that every human being is a sojourner in the mortal world, whereas his real home being heaven. In fact, the poet starts with the major premise that men descend form God. To Wordsworth, God was everywhere manifest in the harmony of nature , and he felt deeply the kinship between nature and the soul of humankind. Man has his soul which knows no decay and destruction. But as one is born, one begins to be confined within the flesh. The soul, bound in his body, can not liberate in his infancy. He trails the clouds of glory, the glory of heaven from which he emanates: "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar: Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness, But tra

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